I've Tried Everything But Giving In
by TheKoganKid
Summary: It's the anniversary of Mary's death and Castiel is absolutely clueless. Anna thinks he's a moron so Cas picks Dean some flowers to show his condolences. Cas/Dean. Title is based off of John Mayer's song All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye, but has no relation to the fic.


_**Side Note : First Wincest, and now Destiel?! Yeah, you're all probably telling me to get the hell out of this fandom because I suck :D But good news- I'm halfway through season seven! Only one and a half to go and then the wait until October! Weeew!**_

_**xXxXxXx**_

When Cas arrived unannounced at Sam and Dean's motel room on November 2nd, looking to go with them while they tracked down a werewolf in Ludington, Michigan, Dean was in a mood. Beer bottles littered the creaking table set up for eating off of, and the elder Winchester looked like death warmth over. Lips pouty, face unshaven, and eyes hard and glittering.

He hardly glanced up when Cas suddenly flitted in as he always did, even when the angel murmured his usual, 'Hello, Dean.' He simply grunted and threw back another mouthful of alcohol.

Sam appeared from the bathroom, looking equally as haggard as Dean, with a long sigh falling from his mouth. He looked up at Cas and when Cas pointedly raised an eyebrow at the two, Sam just shook his head.

"It's not a good time, Cas. We'll head out tomorrow."

Cas watched as Sam moved to sit across from Dean, picking up his own beer. Not for the first time, he thought about how peculiar the Winchester brothers were, before taking Sam's words into thought and slipping back out as quietly as he had came.

_**xXxXxXx **_

As it turned out, Castiel was just a moron; it was the anniversary of Mary Winchester's death, courtesy of Azazel, and that was what had Sam and Dean in a funk.

"You're one of the most clueless people I've ever known, Castiel," Anna sighed. "And I've known a lot of people in my time."

Cas was aware of this fact, but he wasn't in the mood to humor his redheaded superior- he wanted to somehow show the brothers his condolences, but the problem was that Castiel didn't know how to. He was just an angel, for God's sake, not Cupid.

"I just wish to know what would give them my token of respect." Castiel said in his helpless, gruff voice. "To make them feel better."

Anna softened, placing a hand on Cas' shoulder. "Castiel, this is the day they lost their family- there's not a thing in all of the worlds that could make them feel better about it."

They were currently situated in the autistic man's slice of paradise, sitting together on a bench and watching as he flew his kite. It was as sunny as ever, and the shrubbery seemed greener that day, somehow. More clarity in the coloring.

Castiel caught sight of a bush practically overflowing with pink, and he studied the bush in thought.

Anna turned to watch Cas as he stood and walked over to the shrub, trench coat billowing out behind him and stride determined.

Bending over the bush, Cas took in the sight of the flowers, and a sudden thought came to him- this was how humans showed sympathy.

They gave each other flowers.

"Castiel, what are you doing?"

Castiel was picking flowers, and even though he felt kind of ridiculous doing so, the Winchesters were his friends.

"I am collecting my respects."

Anna rolled her eyes, but smiled anyways. Castiel was a strange angel.

"I do not believe you have full control over that vessel of yours, Cas. Your mundanity is showing."

_**xXxXxXx **_

Dean was on his third drink by the time Cas popped back in, hand tucked behind his back with the flowers. Sam was nowhere to be seen, so Castiel had to get ahold of the other man's attention as gently as possible.

He cleared his throat, and almost scrambled away when he visibly saw Dean's hackles rise and tense- but he was an angel, dammit, and he had been to hell. A Winchester was nothing.

Or so he told himself.

"Hello, Dean."

Dean didn't even bother looking behind himself at the other, but studiously ignored him in favor of taking a drink.

"I thought Sam told you we were off for today, Cas." Dean spat out roughly, rubbing his eyes.

"Yes, I am aware. I just wanted to come around and present these to you."

Castiel moved forwards and came to a stand just in front of Dean, and for the first time he seemed to loom above the hunter instead of it being the other way around. Dean's cloudy green eyes finally but grudgingly flickered up to look at him, and suddenly he was more nervous than when Dean had taken him out to have sexual intercourse before returning to Heaven.

So he pulled the flowers out from behind his back and practically smashed them into Dean's surprised face, a few spare petals fluttering to the ground.

"They're gladioluses." Castiel said evenly. "I know you rather detest the color pink but they were the only ones the autistic kite flying man had in his Heaven."

Dean didn't even try to work out what Castiel had just replayed to him, and instead took the flowers, numb to the brushing of their fingers. Pulling the flowers closer, Dean could smell the scent of summer and sweetness rolling off of them in waves, and even though Cas was right about the color, Dean still couldn't help but like them.

Love them, even.

His full lips fell open to say something, most likely to thank Cas and then dismiss him, acting as though they hadn't meant a thing, but looking up, Dean could see the barely disguised anxiety within the angel and he couldn't bring himself to brush him away.

"Thanks, Cas." was what he chose to say eventually, voice quiet and oddly vulnerable. "They're beautiful."

Castiel's cheek bones turned pink and he continued to babble on in the way he did sometimes. "I know it might just seem, uh, unusual for me to be gifting you with flowers, but I've learned in my time that humans do this sort of thing when the other is in pain. I just wanted to see if I could lessen it somehow."

Cas was pushing farther into Dean's emotional bubble, and usually by now Dean would be shoving the other person away and closing himself down. The only other person who had seen him cry was Sam.

But he didn't push Cas away- couldn't was more like it. Instead he set his flowers down delicately on the table, and he pulled the angel close, enclosing him in a warm embrace.

Stunned for a moment, Castiel could do nothing more than stand and take the sudden show of affection Dean was giving him, something he never gave to anyone outside of Sam, Bobby and the occasional child that was put in danger on a case. But he could feel the need for some kind of comfort, if only a hug from Castiel, who was about as awkward as a shell-less turtle, and knowing that Dean was trusting him with one of his most raw and naked emotions was what flipped the switch back on for Castiel.

Gingerly circling his arms around Dean's ribs, he pulled Dean forwards into a more comfortable angle and hugged him back. They were stuck there, if only for a second, in each other's hold, and something had finally made sense to Cas in all his years of insanity and blindly following orders. An ache flickered in the bottom of his stomach, something he couldn't quite reach yet, but it had been deepening since meeting the Winchesters. Dean, more so. It was a good ache.

When Castiel felt something wet that went from burning to freezing within seconds slip into the collar of his dress shirt, he tightened his hold.

"It wasn't your fault, Dean. You were _four_."

Sammy had been telling him that for years, but for some reason, this time Dean almost believed it.

That, apparently, was enough emotion for Dean for what would probably be a lifetime and then some, so he pulled away from Cas and dragged a thumb across his cheeks and eyes. He turned away so that Cas couldn't see the wetness still forming under his eyes, and reaching for his flowers, he scooped them up and moved over towards the kitchenette.

"I should put these in some water." Dean mumbled to the cupboards.

In the end, there was nothing suitable to put the flowers in, so Dean had ended up washing out a left over beer bottle and filling it up with cold water. The flowers sat in the middle of the table, looking vaguely less pretty in the murky brown bottle, but Castiel thought that it somehow made them better. Dean was going on about them having character and Castiel was lost because _since when did plants have personalities?_

They stood silently next to each other, both looking at the flowers with faint interest; Cas started lightly when a handful of fingers tangled nervously into his own, but he simply let the corners of his mouth turn up as Dean took his hand and squeezed.

"Thank you, Castiel."

Cas looked up at Dean, the traces of a smile playing at his mouth, and he nodded.

"Always."

_**xXxXxXx **_

_**I'm just going to go and hide under a rock now because that was terrible .-. I love you though- just saying! Thanks so much for reading :3**_


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